The 15 best strikers in world football right now – ranked in order
Calum Ritchie
47 – 59 minutes
Summary
With the new season well underway, the best strikers in world football will be competing to be viewed as the outright number one.
Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich in 2023 has seen him dominate the Bundesliga following his exploits with Tottenham in the Premier League.
Erling Haaland has drawn criticism for his all-round play at times, but he’s still one of the best strikers on the planet, and he is joined on the list by new teammate Omar Marmoush.
Ranking factors
Football is all about opinions. There is often no right or wrong, as most parts of the beautiful game are subjective. Statistics can be used to back up claims, but nothing can be proved outright when ranking players in order. For the list below, the following factors have been used to help place each striker:
1 Robert Lewandowski
Club: Barcelona
Robert Lewandowski celebrating
3:03
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Robert Lewandowski – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
800
Goals
596
Assists
155
2 Harry Kane
Club: Bayern Munich
Harry Kane is modern football’s answer to Wayne Rooney. Yes, he will absolutely score 20 goals a season. But he’ll also hit double figures in the assist rankings and spend about 30% of his time playing as a holding midfielder just to find that added space to work his magic.
Harry Kane – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
583
Goals
373
Assists
99
3 Erling Haaland
Club: Manchester City
Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has to go down as one of the best strikers in world football for one reason. He’s the best at putting the ball in the back of the opponent’s net. The Norwegian has set the world alight ever since he graced the Premier League with his presence. He smashed the goalscoring record for a single season, scoring 36 times in only 35 appearances during his debut campaign in the competition.
Haaland’s second season in the English top flight followed a similar pattern as he seemed to score every single week before being forced to spend time on the sidelines. He faced a lot of scrutiny from pundits for some of his performances in the second-half of the term, but he’s still one of the best goalscorers on the planet, and there’s no sign of that natural-born instinct letting up any time soon, even if recent form has led to his own self-doubt.
4 Kylian Mbappe
Club: Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe
The Frenchman falls into the super rare category of being unstoppable at times and if he hasn’t claimed two or three Ballon d’Or awards by the time he’s hung up his boots, then it’ll be a shock. It is extremely harsh that the man who scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final just over 18 months ago has to settle for fourth place on the list, but that is more down to his effectiveness from the left wing. While he got off to a slow start in Real Madrid’s famous white and gold, his star power didn’t faulter and he’s now found his feet.
5 Alexander Isak
Club: Newcastle United
Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak celebrates
A few eyebrows were raised when Newcastle paid a huge £63m fee for Alexander Isak, but there are not many who are doubting his quality now. The Swedish striker had an excellent first season in the English top flight, notching 10 goals and impressing with his finishing and tidy footwork, and that continued last season.
Alexander Isak – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
306
Goals
134
Assists
28
6 Viktor Gyokeres
Club: Sporting
Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring a goal with Marcus Edwards
The name on everybody’s lips, Viktor Gyokeres looked all set for a big-money move in the 2024 summer transfer window, but ultimately ended up spending another year in Portugal. The Sweden international only joined his current club, Sporting, the previous year from Championship outfit Coventry City, but his sparkling form while in the Portuguese league has caught the attention of some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
7 Omar Marmoush
Club: Manchester City
Egypt attacker Omar Marmoush in action
Having been reportedly scouted by Liverpool’s first-rate recruitment team, mooted as the heir to Mo Salah’s golden throne, is enough of a compliment itself. Omar Marmoush is the next big thing in Egypt, but it was Manchester City who recently raided Eintracht Frankfurt to acquire his services.
Omar Marmoush – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
214
Goals
70
Assists
32
8 Lautaro Martinez
Club: Inter Milan
Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez
A typically tenacious Argentine centre-forward, Lautaro Martinez has been doing the business at Inter for several seasons now. During the 2022/23 campaign, he netted an impressive 21 league goals and was integral in the club’s title charge in which they narrowly lost out to city rivals AC Milan.
Lautaro Martinez – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
372
Goals
167
Assists
54
9 Victor Osimhen
Club: Galatasary (on loan from Napoli)
Victor Osimhen celebrates scoring
Victor Osimhen’s potential has been well-known since he joined Lille in 2019, but it wasn’t until 2022 that the world truly saw the full extent of the relentless Nigerian’s talent. Standing tall, with speed, aerial dominance, and clinical finishing, Osimhen has scored nearly every type of goal imaginable throughout his Napoli career, leading them to the Serie A title in 2023 with 26 goals in 32 league matches.
10 Ollie Watkins
Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins
Bruno Guimaraes, Mohamed Salah and Heung-min Son
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Ollie Watkins – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
420
Goals
155
Assists
66
11 Victor Boniface
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface celebrating
Bayer Leverkusen were the surprise package of the most recent campaign as the Bundesliga side went a full domestic campaign without tasting defeat. One of the key factors behind Xabi Alonso’s success was the lethal nature of Victor Boniface.
Victor Boniface – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
167
Goals
69
Assists
31
12 Cristiano Ronaldo
Club: Al-Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo
There was once a point in time when the greatest goalscorer of all time would be the name at the very top of this list, with no real competition for his crown. In 2025, however, Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself plying his trade in the Saudi Pro League, which is undeniably lower in quality than the top European leagues.
The Portuguese superstar is the biggest fish in the small pond that is the emerging division. Ronaldo scored more goals than any other player in 2023, hitting the back of the net 54 times. As already mentioned, the lack of quality in the league he plays in has to factor against the Real Madrid and Manchester United icon, but 2024 was still a successful year for the 39-year-old, and considering he has recently renewed his contract, 2025 could follow in a similar vein.
13 Mateo Retegui
Club: Atalanta
In 19 Serie A games so far in the 2024/25 campaign, he has notched 14 goals, which sees him comfortably sit atop the goalscoring standings, ahead of Thuram and Dusan Vlahovic. The only real reason he’s not much further up in this one is because he’s yet to do it over a longer period of time. Give him an extra few months, and he’ll likely skyrocket into stardom.
14 Marcus Thuram
Club: Inter Milan
MixCollage-22-Apr-2024-09-10-PM-4810
Joining on a free transfer from German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach, the Frenchman played a starring role as the men in black and blue reclaimed their league title with a Milan derby success against AC Milan. Thuram is one of the best forwards in Italy currently and is more than capable of playing through the middle or on the left wing.
15 Antoine Griezmann
Club: Atletico Madrid
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For the casual fan, seeing 33-year-old Antoine Griezmann back in the spotlight might raise a few eyebrows. Wasn’t his prime years ago, back when he dazzled at Euro 2016? Is he even still playing? The answer is a resounding yes, and Atletico Madrid’s resurgence this season owes plenty to their French talisman, who has become the crown jewel of Diego Simeone’s side.
All statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt – correct as of 23/01/2025
